You may not have heard of the Pereto Principle, but just about
everyone has heard of the 80/20 rule. 80% of the failures in a
project are caused by the top 20% of the errors.

Focus on the 20% and you’ll take care of almost all of the
failures.

It’s something I used all the time when I worked as an engineer
in electronic materials.

Originally, the principle came of out wealth distribution among
a given population.

Most businesses will find that 80% of their sales come from just
20% of their customers. They focus on super serving this
20%.

Basically, 80% of the effect in anything is brought on by 20% of
the cause.

Vilfredo Pereto showed that about 80% of the land in Italy, at
the time, was owned by 20% of the population. Pareto went on to
note that 80% of the peas in his garden came from 20% of the
pods.

How Pereto Came to
Productivity

I have to give credit, once again, to Jay
Papasan, the co-author, along with Gary
Keller, of The One Thing. I’ve been listening to it
this past week and when I heard this technique, I knew I had to put
it into practice and share it with you.

I suggest you pick up The One Thing so you get the full
grasp of what Jay is teaching, but I’ll give you the summary of it
all.

You probably have a very large to-do list associated with a
specific project.

So, what should you work on first? This is where the Pereto
principle comes into effect.

Determine what is your ultimate desired outcome. Maybe you’re
building a website

Brainstorm and list everything that needs to be done to get that
website launched. Everything

Now go through and start to sort the items based on how much
they’ll impact the final outcome.

You’ll eventually notice that about 20% of the items will
impact 80% of the final result.

You’ll now know exactly what you need to focus on first.

You can use this with just about any project

Drive the Pereto Deep by
"Peretoing" your results

So, that gives you the biggest items, but what do you work on
NOW?

Simply take that 20% and sort it again, so you can determine the
20% of the 20% which will give you the TOP 4% of your tasks which
will produce the absolute biggest impact to the final desired
outcome.

If 4% is still too broad of a focus, simply Pereto it out again,
until you have a very clear idea of what needs to be done right
now.

Pereto on Many
Levels

If you’re like me, you have numerous projects on your desk at
any given time. Obviously, if you focus on the top 20% or
even top 4% of each project, you’ll never complete them.
Sure, you’ll be 90+% of the way there, but you’ll never
really finish.

So, you may have to Pereto your project.

Given your overall business goals, which projects are the most
important?

Find the top 20% of the projects and you’ll probably have 80% of
your business goals taken care of.

Use the Pereto Principle to sort the tasks of that project and
then finish it. Focus on it until it’s DONE.

Then move to the next project and Pereto out the steps to know
what is going to get you 80% of the way to completion on that
one.

Nothing is perfect. Let
this flex.

I think you can see how this work. Nothing is perfect and
you may have to flex this.

But, the point of it all for Jay Papasan is to
help you discover The One Thing you should be focused on
right now.

Tomorrow, I’m going to share with you, why it’s so important for
us to discover that one thing.

Again, it’s a great book. I’ll put a link to it in the
show notes at PDesmondAdams.com. Highly
recommended. I started reading it after numerous people said
the same thing. They were right. Check it out.

Call to
Action

Pareto out today’s tasks … just as an experiment and then focus
ONLY on those top items… with the highest one first. JUST
THAT ONE THING

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About the Podcast

This show will help you find abundant success in your personal as well as business life. You'll be lead towards greater achievement in your physical well-being, accomplishments in your business or career, and true joy in your relationships, by focusing on your attitude and mindset.
Your host, P. Desmond Adams will show you how to "change the world around you by changing the world within you." Desmond will teach you how to see all of life's experiences as beneficial to your whole being, discover how to be steady and consistent in your efforts so you can finally finish what you started, increase what you accomplish in life with the same amount of time and effort, and understand the greater purpose of your existence and how that will bring an unimagined peace within.
You'll benefit from over 30 years of study Desmond has done through the teachings of personal development and self-help teachers such as Tony Robbins, Napoleon Hill, Gregg Braden, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Dr. Wayne Dyer, Wallace Wattles, Jack Canfield, Ernest Holmes, Rhonda Byrne and the one who finally helped Desmond discover the secret to the Law of Attraction, Charles F. Haanel.